From: CRDGW2::CRDGW2::MRGATE::"SMTP::CRVAX.SRI.COM::RELAY-INFO-VAX" 12-SEP-1989 18:02 To: MRGATE::"ARISIA::EVERHART" Subj: Thoughts On Crash Analysis Problems And Uses For Shipping Boxes... Received: From REMOTE.DCCS.UPENN.EDU by CRVAX.SRI.COM with TCP; Tue, 12 SEP 89 14:21:06 PDT Received: from XRT.UPENN.EDU by remote.dccs.upenn.edu id AA13706; Tue, 12 Sep 89 17:21:27 -0400 Message-Id: <8909122121.AA13706@remote.dccs.upenn.edu> Date: Tue, 12 Sep 89 17:24 EDT From: "Clayton, Paul D." Subject: Thoughts On Crash Analysis Problems And Uses For Shipping Boxes... To: INFO-VAX@SRI.COM X-Vms-To: @INFOVAX,CLAYTON In the recent past a couple of items have caused me to pause and wonder. I offer them to you so that any 'pausing' you have about the same thing may be shorter. ;-) Since the introduction of VMS 5.0 one of the larger aspects was the 'break-up' of the exec into many little chunks located in the SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES directory. The cute name of 'Execlets' has been ascribed to these new chunks of code. For the most part, this aspect of VMS is of no concern as long as the processor boots and runs. It is when the processor does not do this that the breakup could become a problem. One of the things that I like to do when faced with a crash dump is compare it to prior ones for simularities. First on the BIG scale and then if needed, at the individual memory location scale. The side issue with this approach to crash dumps is that if a VMS upgrade(s) is done between crash dumps PROBLEMS will result unless additional steps are taken. It all boils down to the breakup of VMS. One of the biggest reasons to do the breakup was to allow for fixes/replacement of one or more Execlet during the upgrade. When running ANALYZE/CRASH utility it may be necessary to get the symbols and addresses for the Execlets to track the problem. This would be done using the 'READ/EXEC' command. This will read in the the symbol tables for each of the Execlets by scanning the .EXE image files. If you do NOT specify a directory on the 'READ/EXEC' command, the default will be the directory of SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES. The other side issue is with the symbols for the main exec image SYS.EXE. The default is the current one in SYS$SYSTEM. The result of these statements is that an upgrade can CHANGE a symbol in any of these images and if you do NOT read in the appropiate version of the symbols, trouble could result. It is VERY easy to get neck deep into a crash dump based on what you see. By saving the OLD versions of the images in the SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES directory and the SYS$SYSTEM:SYS.STB file you can ACCURATELY run an analysis on an old prior version dump without getting bad information. Use the following commands to accomplish it. To use a prior version of the SYS.STB symbols: ANALYZE/CRASH/SYMBOL=file_spec_of_SYS.STB_FILE crash_file.spec To read in prior versions of the Execlets symbols: SDA>READ/EXEC [directory_containing_prior_version] Note that for the READ/EXEC command you have to specify a directory. Therefore, if more then one version of the Execlets exist a directory tree such as the following is needed. [EXECLETS] [EXECLETS.VMS050] [EXECLETS.VMS050_1] ... [EXECLETS.VMS052] Hope this helps in saving time and agravation. ;-) ----- The second item is on a more humorous note. The project I am working on has just recieved 39 63XX series processors for various purposes and various other gear. Seven truck loads in all. Seeing all these boxes, each being a TRI wall deal I let my mind wonder to what could be done with them. The box for a 88XX series procesor would be even bigger/better. You should look at each box to see if it meets your size needs. As the proud father of a three year old daughter who has a VIVID imagination the solution did not take long. The box that a 63XX processor comes in is approx. 44 inches wide by 35 inches deep (44x35). A SHARP utility knife, long straight edge and tape measure are all thats needed. The dimensions for the WALK-IN house are shown below. Front View: | | - | | ^ | | | | | | | | | |------------------------| 50 inches high, from floor to peak | | | | ______ | | | | | | | | | D | | | | | O | | | | | O | | | | | R | | | -------------------------- - |<14" > |16" |< ~14" >| |< ----- 44" ------- >| Side View: /\ - / \ ^ / \ approx. 10 inches to peak top. 20 inches along the / \ | slope lines for the roof. / \ _ | | ^ | | ~ approx. 40 inches from floor to start of roof slope | _____ | | _ | | | | | ^ | | | | | 12 inches high for the window | ----- | | - | | | ^ | | | | 25 inches to bottom of window (both sides) | | | | | | | | -------------------- - - |<12">|<11">|<12"> | The first step was to turn the box 'inside-out'. This allows for a 'clean' outside which can be fixed up to your liking. The door was only cut on two sides, top and either left or right side. The opposing side was creased using a hammer and board (on edge) to allow the door to swing back and forth. A hole saw (1-1/2 inch diameter) was chucked in a hand drill and used to cut a finger pull on the door which can be used to close the door without getting pinched. This hole should be cut on the side of the door opposite the crease. The one tricky part was to cut new squares down lower on the sides for use by the metal plates to hold the two carton halves together. Due to cutting the slopes for the roof, the upper metal holds were on the waste part. I also replaced the long bolts used on the metal brackets with shorter ones to prevent them from sticking out the sides and causing puncture wounds to people/pets. Parts from another box were cut to size to be used as a true 'roof' on the house. The roof is optional. Mine has a roof, but since I wanted an easy method to 'check up' on any occupants of the house, I cut two 'sky lights' in the roof. This served two purposes. One was getting air flow circulation in the house while allowing checkups on the occupants. One option is to nail a piece of wood across the front of the box over the door to stiffen it up. The door cut weakened it substantially in my case. A 36 inch strip of '1X2' furring strip nailed/glued in did the job. Then the imagination comes into play. Amanda has crayoned a window, with flower box, tulips and assorted other items over the outside. Window shades have also been added using material supported by a dowel which is held in place by two 'bag ties' (extra long or several put together). Holes were drilled through the sides for the bag ties to go through. For the inside, the recommendation is to 'wallpaper' the box with contact paper to cover all the Digital ink stampings. If you use plain paper, this can then be crayoned to the whims of the occupants. The dimensions can be adjusted to the needs of the children using the house. Mine were set as follows. Door width 'almost' the width of the childs shoulders. Door height neck high on the child. Height to start of roof slope was couple inches taller then height of child. You can move doors and windows and make them anyway you want or with the 'guidenance' of the helpers you will be surrounded with all wanting to use the house before its finished! Have fun!! ;-) pdc Paul D. Clayton Address - CLAYTON%XRT@RELAY.UPENN.EDU Disclaimer: All thoughts and statements here are my own and NOT those of my employer, and are also not based on, or contain, restricted information.